Department for Botany and Plant Biology, University of Geneva, Switzerland

introduction

Signal perception at the cell surface and transduction of this signal to the cell’s interior is essential to all life forms. Plants have evolved membrane-integral receptor proteins and associated signaling cascades that drastically differ from the well-studied systems in animals. Our aim is to dissect these signaling pathways in mechanistic detail.

A second line of research aims at uncovering the roles of linear and inositol polyphosphates in plants. We are interested where these phosphate and energy-rich molecules are located within cells, how they are being synthesized/broken down and what’s their cellular function and physiological role.